Pierre-Benoit Pagès

Videothoracoscopy Versus Thoracotomy for the Treatment of Spontaneous Pneumothorax: A Propensity Score Analysis

BACKGROUND Few randomized controlled trials have been published on outcomes after treatment of spontaneous pneumothorax. The objective of this study was to assess recurrence, pulmonary complications, prolonged air leak, and hospital duration of stay in patients undergoing videothoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or thoracotomy for spontaneous pneumothorax. METHODS From January 2005 to December 2012, 7,396 patients underwent operations for spontaneous pneumothorax and were entered into the French national database. The propensity score, which is the conditional probability of assignment to a particular treatment given a vector of observed covariates, was used for the analysis. Three statistical analyses were performed: matching, subclassification, and the inverse probability of treatment weighting. The primary end point was recurrence, defined as a pneumothorax requiring a chest tube or new operation. The secondary end point was pulmonary complications, prolonged air leak, and hospital duration of stay. RESULTS VATS was performed in 6,419 patients and thoracotomy in 997 patients. Pleurodesis was performed by abrasion or pleurectomy in 5,873 patients (79%) and by using a chemical agent in 1,523 patients (21%). The median time to recurrence was 3 months (range, 1 to 76 months). The recurrence rate was higher in the VATS group regardless of the statistical analysis that was used: 2.1 for unmatched samples, 2.5 for matched samples, 2.3 for subclassification, and 1.7 for the inverse probability of treatment weighting. VATS significantly reduced the hospital duration of stay by 1 day but did not significantly reduce pulmonary complications or prolonged air leak. CONCLUSIONS VATS reduced the hospital duration of stay, but the risk of recurrence was higher. This information should be delivered to patients before pneumothorax operations.

A Predictive Score for Bronchopleural Fistula Established Using the French Database Epithor

BACKGROUND Bronchopleural fistula (BPF) remains a rare but fatal complication of thoracic surgery. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a predictive model of BPF after pulmonary resection and to identify patients at high risk for BPF. METHODS From January 2005 to December 2012, 34,000 patients underwent major pulmonary resection (lobectomy, bilobectomy, or pneumonectomy) and were entered into the French National database Epithor. The primary outcome was the occurrence of postoperative BPF at 30 days. The logistic regression model was built using a backward stepwise variable selection. RESULTS Bronchopleural fistula occurred in 318 patients (0.94%); its prevalence was 0.5% for lobectomy (n = 139), 2.2% for bilobectomy (n = 39), and 3% for pneumonectomy (n = 140). The mortality rate was 25.9% for lobectomy (n = 36), 16.7% for bilobectomy (n = 6), and 20% for pneumonectomy (n = 28). In the final model, nine variables were selected: sex, body mass index, dyspnea score, number of comorbidities per patient, bilobectomy, pneumonectomy, emergency surgery, sleeve resection, and the side of the resection. In the development data set, the C-index was 0.8 (95% confidence interval: 0.78 to 0.82). This model was well calibrated because the Hosmer-Lemeshow test was not significant (χ(2) = 10.5, p = 0.23). We then calculated the logistic regression coefficient to build the predictive score for BPF. CONCLUSIONS This strong model could be easily used by surgeons to identify patient at high risk for BPF. This score needs to be confirmed prospectively in an independent cohort.

History of multiple previous malignancies should not be a contraindication to the surgical resection of lung cancer.

BACKGROUND Patients with a history of previous malignancy are often encountered in a discussion of surgical resection of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The outcome of patients with 2 or more previous cancers remains unknown. METHODS We performed a retrospective study including all patients undergoing resection for NSCLC from January 1980 to December 2009 at 2 French centers. We then compared the survival of patients without a history of another cancer (group 1), those with a history of a single malignancy (group 2), and those with a history of 2 or more previous malignancies (group 3). RESULTS There were 5,846 patients: 4,603 (78%) in group 1, 1,147 (20%) in group 2, and 96 (2%) in group 3. The proportion of patients included in group 3 increased from 0.3% to 3% over 3 decades. Compared with groups 1 and 2, group 3 was associated with older age, a larger proportion of women, earlier tumor stage, less induction therapy, and fewer pneumonectomies. Despite this, postoperative complications and mortality were similar in groups 2 and 3, and higher than in group 1. Five-year survival rates were 44.6%, 35.1%, and 23.6% in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively (p < 0.000001 for comparison between 3 groups; p = 0.18 for comparison between groups 2 and 3). In multivariate analysis, male sex, higher T stage, higher N stage, incomplete resection, and study group were significant predictors of adverse prognosis. CONCLUSIONS Despite earlier diagnosis and acceptable long-term survival, patients operated on for NSCLC after 2 or 3 previous malignancies carried a worse prognosis than did those undergoing operation after 1 malignancy or if there was no previous diagnosis of cancer.

Sleeve lobectomy may provide better outcomes than pneumonectomy for non-small cell lung cancer. A decade in a nationwide study.

Introduction: Whenever feasible, sleeve lobectomy is recommended to avoid pneumonectomy for lung cancer, but these guidelines are based on limited retrospective series. The aim of our study was to compare outcomes following sleeve lobectomy and pneumonectomy using data from a national database. Methods: From 2005 to 2014, 941 sleeve lobectomy and 5318 pneumonectomy patients were recorded in the French database Epithor. Propensity score was generated with 15 pretreatment variables and used to create balanced groups with matching (794 matches) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (standardized difference was 0 for matching, and 0.0025 after weighting). Odds ratio (OR) of postoperative complications and mortality and hazard ratio (HR) for overall survival and disease‐free survival were calculated using propensity adjustment techniques and a sensitivity analysis. Results: Postoperative mortality after sleeve resection was similar to that after pneumonectomy (matching OR, 1.24; P = .4; weighting OR, 0.77; P = .4) despite significantly lower odds of pulmonary complications with pneumonectomy (matching OR, 0.4; P < .0001; weighting OR, 0.12; P < .001). The adjusted HR for death after pneumonectomy was significantly higher when analyzed using matched analysis but not with weighting (matching HR, 1.63; P = .002; weighting HR, 0.97; P = .92). The same was true for disease‐free survival (matching HR, 1.49; P = .01; weighting HR, 1.03; P = .84). Conclusions: Despite early differences in perioperative pulmonary outcomes favoring pneumonectomy, early overall and disease‐free survival was in favor of sleeve lobectomy in the matched analysis but not the weighted analysis. In our opinion, when it is technically feasible, sleeve lobectomy should be the preferred technique.

Surgical management of spontaneous pneumothorax: are there any prognostic factors influencing postoperative complications?

OBJECTIVES There are no guidelines regarding the surgical approach for spontaneous pneumothorax. It has been reported, however, that the risk of recurrence following video-assisted thoracic surgery is higher than that following open thoracotomy (OT). The objective of this study was to determine whether this higher risk of recurrence following video-assisted thoracic surgery could be attributable to differences in intraoperative parenchymal resection and the pleurodesis technique. METHODS Data for 7647 patients operated on for primary or secondary spontaneous pneumothorax between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2012 were extracted from Epithor®, the French national database. The type of pleurodesis and parenchymal resection was collected. Outcomes were (i) bleeding, defined as postoperative pleural bleeding; (ii) pulmonary and pleural complications, defined as atelectasis, pneumonia, empyema, prolonged ventilation, acute respiratory distress syndrome and prolonged air leaks; (iii) in-hospital length of stay and (iv) recurrence, defined as chest drainage or surgery for a second pneumothorax. RESULTS Of note, 6643 patients underwent videothoracoscopy and 1004 patients underwent OT. When compared with the thoracotomy group, the videothoracoscopy group was associated with more parenchymal resections (62.4 vs 80%, P = 0.01), fewer mechanical pleurodesis procedures (93 vs 77.5%, P < 10(-3)), fewer postoperative respiratory complications (12 vs 8.2%, P = 0.01), fewer cases of postoperative pleural bleeding (2.3 vs 1.4%, P = 0.04) and shorter hospital lengths of stay (16 vs 9 days, P = 0.01). The recurrence rate was 1.8% (n = 18) in the thoracotomy group versus 3.8% (n = 254) in the videothoracoscopy group (P = 0.01). The median time between surgery and recurrence was 3 months (range: 1-76 months). CONCLUSIONS In the surgical management of spontaneous pneumothorax, videothoracoscopy is associated with a higher rate of recurrence than OT. This difference might be attributable to differences in the pleurodesis technique rather than differences in the parenchymal resection.

Medicoeconomic analysis of lobectomy using thoracoscopy versus thoracotomy for lung cancer: a study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial (Lungsco01)

Introduction In the last decade, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has had a major effect on thoracic surgery. Retrospective series have reported benefits of VATS when compared with open thoracotomy in terms of postoperative pain, postoperative complications and length of hospital stay. However, no large randomised control trial has been conducted to assess the reality of the potential benefits of VATS lobectomy or its medicoeconomic impact. Methods and analysis The French National Institute of Health funded Lungsco01 to determine whether VATS for lobectomy is superior to open thoracotomy for the treatment of NSCLC in terms of economic cost to society. This trial will also include an analysis of postoperative outcomes, the length of hospital stay, the quality of life, long-term survival and locoregional recurrence. The study design is a two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial comparing VATS lobectomy with lobectomy using thoracotomy for the treatment of NSCLC. Patients will be eligible if they have proven or suspected lung cancer which could be treated by lobectomy. Patients will be randomised via an independent service. All patients will be monitored according to standard thoracic surgical practices. All patients will be evaluated at day 1, day 30, month 3, month 6, month 12 and then every year for 2 years thereafter. The recruitment target is 600 patients. Ethics and dissemination The protocol has been approved by the French National Research Ethics Committee (CPP Est I: 09/06/2015) and the French Medicines Agency (09/06/2015). Results will be presented at national and international meetings and conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number NCT02502318.

Is an activity volume threshold really realistic for lung cancer resection

Background We analyzed volume as a continuous variable to estimate threshold, which is a methodology rarely seen in the literature. The objective of this work was to assess hospital volume for lung cancer (LC) surgery and to establish the associated threshold for acceptable in-hospital mortality (IHM). Data was obtained from the French national medico-administrative database. Methods From January 2005 to December 2016, data from 108,571 patients operated for LC in France were collected from the national administrative database. To estimate the volume threshold, hierarchical logistic regression models were developed. Results The crude IHM rate was 5.2% in low volume centers and 3.5% in high volume centers (P<0.0001). Centers performing more than 70 LC surgeries per year reduced the risk of postoperative death by 35% [adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0.65; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.5-0.84]. Among the 4 models, the use of fractional polynomial of the volume had the lowest Akaikes information criterion (AIC) index. The threshold volume was reached once a hospitals annual volume reached 70 patients (95% CI, 40-85). In our analyses, the proportion of patients who were admitted in hospitals with an annual volume that was less than identified threshold were 34% of patients operated for LC. A hospital with an annual volume of 10 patients for lung resection, increasing the annual volume by 60 procedures would be associated with a 31% reduction in the odds of death within 30 days. Conclusions From the medico-administrative database, we have been able to estimate a minimum volume threshold that may be useful to help regionalize thoracic surgery centers.

Does age over 80 years have to be a contraindication for lung cancer surgery—a nationwide database study

Background Nowadays surgery remains the best treatment for localized lung cancer (LC). However, patients over 80 years old are often denied surgery because of the postoperative risk of death. This study aimed to estimate in-hospital mortality (IHM) and determine whether age over 80 is the most important predictor of IHM after LC surgery. Methods From January 2005 to December 2015, 97,440 patients, including 4,438 patients over 80 years old, were operated on for LC and recorded in the French Administrative Database. Characteristics of patients, hospitals and surgery were analysed. Results Crude IHM was 3.73% (n=3,639) and 7.77% (n=345) for the over 80s vs. 3.54% (n=3,294) for younger patients (P<0.0001). In multivariate analysis, predictive factors for IHM with the odds ratios (OR) were: 2.60 for age ≥80 (95% CI: 2.30-2.94; P=0.0001), 5.85 for a previous liver disease (95% CI: 4.79-7.16; P=0.0001) and 5 for previous lung disease (95% CI: 4.25-5.9; P=0.0001). IHM was also linked to hospital volume with an OR of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.69-0.81; P=0.0001) and a linear decrease for predicted IHM according to hospital volume for the over 80s. Adjusted ORs were 1.15 (95% CI: 0.96-1.4; P=0.0116) for lobectomy, 2.18 for bilobectomy (95% CI: 1.7-2.8; P=0.0001) and 3.83 (95% CI: 3.2-4.6; P=0.0001) for pneumonectomy. Conclusions Concerning IHM, age ≥80 had a lower weight than did a previous pulmonary or liver disease and the type of pulmonary resection. Patients over 80s with localized LC and no significant comorbidities should be referred for surgery if lobectomy or sublobar resection could be performed.

Aspetti chirurgici della tubercolosi polmonare e dei micobatteri atipici

Descritta nel 1819, la tubercolosi polmonare ha accompagnato lo sviluppo della chirurgia toracica. Dopo l’abbandono delle tecniche di collassoterapia nel 1945 e il minor ricorso alla toracoplastica dopo gli anni ′80, le resezioni parenchimali restano il solo trattamento curativo possibile di situazioni cliniche complesse. La tubercolosi multiresistente (multidrug-resistant tuberculosis [MDR-TB]) deve beneficiare di una gestione chirurgica all’interno di equipe specializzate. Le caverne post-tubercolari, le distruzioni parenchimali e le dilatazioni dei bronchi da postumi possono complicarsi con un’emottisi e un’infezione da aspergillus o con infezioni recidivanti e devono, allora, essere operate. In queste indicazioni difficili, una preparazione preoperatoria rigorosa, una tecnica sistematica e delle cure postoperatorie vigili consentono di ottenere delle guarigioni definitive, al prezzo di una morbimortalita operatoria accettabile. Queste situazioni devono, quindi, essere conosciute dai chirurghi toracici, per non prolungare inutilmente dei trattamenti medici inefficaci e/o tossici.